


Diamonds, Dresses, and Dragons

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 00:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2046672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t want to accidentally make an inappropriate hooker joke.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diamonds, Dresses, and Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really close to finding a name for this universe. Erin is involved in the world’s oldest profession and Dave is…Dave.

“Don’t look at me that way.” Erin said as she mixed her cocktail.

“Impossible.” Dave shook his head.

“You're impossible, David Rossi.”

“I like to think of it as incorrigible, which can be very attractive.” 

“In what country?” Erin smirked and sipped her fuzzy navel. “Oh, this is good.”

“I like when you pat yourself on the back.”

“I'm going to get dressed.” Erin started to walk out of the room.

“Please don’t on my account.” Dave smiled as his eyes followed her. 

He fanned himself as Erin walked past; the scent of Estee Lauder’s Pleasures wafting under his nose. She was wearing purple silk knickers and a purple corset. The corset was expensive and intricately made. Erin didn’t have the world’s most ample cleavage but, like with everything else in her life, she worked it to the nth degree. 

Her breasts were pushed up while not being over the top. Her lines were as smooth as silk. She’d pulled her hair up tonight but Dave didn’t see a single pin. It was almost an illusion, and a little trick of the eye never hurt a man. The 3” black Jimmy Choo stilettos completed the outfit.

“Damn, woman.”

“Oh c'mon, it’s just a little something I threw on.”

“You're fuckin beautiful.” Dave was almost breathless.

“Thank you.”

“I bought you a present.” He took a sip of his Glenfiddich and got up from the couch.

“Your voice is getting closer. Do you intend to come into my bedroom?”

“Not without explicit permission.” He leaned on the door frame and smiled.

“That depends on how good the gift is of course.” Erin smiled into her full length mirror.

Dave wasn’t sure if she was putting on a show for him or if the mirror thing was part of her ritual. If he had a body like Erin Strauss’ he'd hang out in front of the mirror all day too.

“Oh, this is a doozy.” He said.

Erin walked over to the bed and picked up two dresses. One was gold, the other red.

“Which do you like better?” she asked.

“They're both lovely.”

“But if you had to choose?”

“If I had to choose, I would want you to wear exactly what you're wearing right now.”

“You're no help. This view is usually pretty pricy, Rossi.”

“I don’t want to accidentally make an inappropriate hooker joke.” He said.

“I like it better when you go with your flow.”

“That’s because we’re in the honeymoon phase.”

Dave smirked. Erin dropped the red dress on the bed and took the gold one over to the mirror. She took it off the hanger, pulled it over her head. It was a Badgley Mischka cocktail dress that stopped just above the knee. The three-quarter inch sleeves were a bit much for a DC summer but Erin didn’t care. The square neckline perfectly accented her corset.

“Will you zip me?” Erin turned back and glanced at Dave.

He walked into the room, taking it all in. How many men had been in Erin’s inner sanctum? Since she never brought work home, Dave had no idea what the answer was. She loved crèmes, black, maroon, and there was plenty of cherry oak. 

There were pictures on the dresser and desk; black and white photography on the walls. Her bed wasn’t as big as his but Dave was sure she had sweet dreams in it. It looked like the kind one would jump on for fun. He came to stand behind her in front of the mirror.

“You will be the most beautiful woman in the room.” he whispered. After pulling the zipper up, Dave kissed just below the nape of her neck. Her skin was so addictive.

“I will be on the arm of quite a handsome man.”

“No one will pay attention to me, I'm sure.”

“I won't complain.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “That’s going to leave more for me.”

“This is almost perfect.” Dave smiled. “I think it needs just a little more sparkle.”

He pulled the necklace out of his pocket, putting it around Erin’s neck. She gasped and reached out to touch it. It was a white gold chain with a white gold pendant. The cursive capital E was made of diamonds. While it wasn’t dust, it wasn’t a ridiculous amount of carats. Erin was a subtle woman; she didn’t need to overwhelm to be noticed.

“It’s beautiful.” She said.

“I just wanted to get you a little something.” 

“You're too much.” Erin turned and wrapped her arms around him. Dave sighed when she ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair.

“I'm crazy about you.” he said.

“I know.” she nodded, kissing him.

“You're crazy about me too…maybe a little.”

“A little.” Erin held her thumb and forefinger close together.

Dave took her face in his hands and pulled her into a passionate kiss. The taste of her never failed to make him hungry for more. She was sweet and forbidden and tangy and oh so good and oh so bad.

“Up or down?” Erin murmured against his lips.

“Hmm?”

“Should I wear my hair up or down?”

“If it’s up, I can nibble your earlobes.” Dave replied. He gave her Eskimo kisses. “If it’s down, I can run my fingers through it.”

“Up it is. Tonight, I need you to keep your hands to yourself please.”

“Perish the thought.”

Erin kissed him once more. It wasn’t easy but she banished Dave to the living room so she could finish dressing. Erin didn’t like being late even if she had a very good reason to let time get away from her. Taking just a few moments to admire the jewelry around her neck wasn’t going to put them too far off schedule.

***

“Well hello there, Erin Strauss. While I hoped to see you here tonight I never expected it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She turned and faced Bruno Hawkes. “I've always been a patron of the arts. I've always supported Madison. What are you doing here?”

Here was Oblique, one of the most fashionable art galleries in Georgetown. It was small but many new artists struggled to get through the door.

“I called in a marker to make this happen.” he replied. Bruno waved his hands around the nearly crowded room as if he made every painting himself.

“Your interest rates were always a little too high for my tastes, Bruno.”

“Madison’s immense talent got her a showing. My phone call to Francie got her an appointment with her portfolio.”

“Please don’t ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to her.” Erin took a deep breath.

“I am definitely going to purchase Lazy Sunday Morning.” Dave said as he and Madison walked back over to Erin. “It’s just amazing.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.” Madison smiled.

“Just promise me that you’ll keep painting. You have a true talent, Madison.”

“Thank you.” she smiled at Bruno. “I didn’t know you were here, Bruno. I thought you weren’t going to make it.”

“I rearranged my scheduled.” Bruno took her hand. “I wanted to watch your face light up when the artistic elite showered you with praise.”

“So far, everyone has been kind. I know there are a few critics here but I haven’t pushed myself on them yet. I'm trying hard not to.”

“Walk me around.” Bruno said. “Introduce me to people and I’ll introduce people to you. Let’s sell every one of these lovely paintings.”

“Oh my God, alright.” Madison lit up. “Thank you again, Mr. Rossi.” She hugged Erin. “I'm so glad you're here. This is a really big night for me and I owe you so much.”

“You owe me nothing,” Erin shook her head. “Just relish your freedom and success. Don’t let anyone take it away from you. We’ll talk before I leave; I promise.”

The young redhead nodded as she walked away with the older man. His gaze lingered on Erin long enough to make Dave uncomfortable but he didn’t say a word. DC was a small town…she probably knew a lot of people in there tonight.

“Who was that?” he asked.

“The devil.” Erin replied.

“And you let Madison walk away with him?”

“I don’t want to make a scene. Bruno has put her in the position that she owes him one. I'm going to be fixing that in the near future.”

“What is it with guys named Bruno?” Dave asked. “Were they all born under the same douche constellation?”

“Probably.” Erin smiled. “God, I need a cigarette. I really miss the days where you could light up whenever the urge hit.”

“I'm sure Madison wouldn’t mind us stepping out for a moment.” He slipped his arm around Erin’s waist; they were walking toward the glass doors. “We’ll go to the curb like college bar patrons.”

“That sounds really glamourous.” Erin rolled her eyes.

“Stick with me, kid. I can give you a life of glamour and awe.”

000

“Bruno is a millionaire. He's a gajillionaire as my kid would say.”

“Wait…you have a kid? I had no idea that you had a kid.”

“One crisis at a time, OK?” Erin lit her Marlboro Mild.

“Sure.” Dave nodded. “I just want you to know that kids won't change the way I feel about you.”

“Bruno likes to think of himself as a benefactor to young girls.” Erin went on as if Dave hadn’t spoken. “When he's not paying for kinky or sometimes humiliating sex, he plays Henry Higgins. Some girls fall for it; some don’t.”

“Do you think Madison fell for it?”

“No. I just think she's talented and a little bit desperate. Breaking into the art world is impossible without the right connections. Its old money and older conventions. Bruno has those connections…he got her in. Whatever he wants in return, he cannot have it.”

“You love these girls, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. And if anyone fucks with them they will have to face me. I am not an easy win.”

“Tell me about it.” Dave laughed some.

“So I um, I kinda have a kid.” Erin said it after a few minutes of silence. She was puffing on her cigarette, cringing about the idea of having to deal with Bruno again. Might as well delay that as long as she could.

“How does one kinda have a kid?”

“Penelope is a sixteen year old terror that I love to pieces. She hopped a bus here after her parents died in a car accident in Berkeley almost a year and a half ago. I used to give her breakfast money when she hung out by the coffee shop I went to. Then I put a roof over her head.”

“A fourteen year old took a 3000 mile bus trip?”

“Yeah.” Erin nodded. “Losing her parents was tough. I do my best to give her maternal love without mothering her. It’s a fine line, but in my line of work…”

“I'm dating the Mother Teresa of molls.” Dave said.

“I like that one.” She laughed. “C'mon,” Erin put out her cigarette after a long drag. “Let’s have one more glass of champagne and slay a dragon.”

***

Erin sighed and reread the note on her counter. _Dear Erin, I’ll be gone for a day or so. I gotta handle some business but I promise I am safe and I'm not gonna get arrested. Don’t worry about me though I know you will. Don’t be mad though I know you are. If you don’t hear from me in like 48 hours send John to the usual spots. Love you much, PG_. She folded the letter and put it in the cabinet drawer. It wasn’t the first one in there. She turned to Dave. He had a concerned look on his face.

“How do you think I’ll look with a head full of gray hair?” she asked.

“Just as beautiful as you do now.” He replied.

“The coffee thing was a lie.”

“I figured as much. Coffee and nightcaps have been a euphemism for sex since the creation of coffee and nightcaps.”

“I want you to stay.” She put her arms around him.

“I'm here.”

“I just…I don’t want to have sex.”

“OK.” Dave could admit he was disappointed. He'd get over it though, they'd still get to sleep together. She didn’t want him to sleep in the living room, did she?

“I just want us to kiss.” Erin looked into his eyes. “I want to kiss you, and touch you, and hold you.”

“First and second base; check and check.”

“You don’t mind terribly, do you?”

“You're asking me right now if I mind spending the night being kissed and touched by you?”

“Yes.” Erin nodded.

“I think I’ll manage.” He smiled. “May I make a little request?”

“You may.”

“Can you wear the corset and knickers?”

“I'm already wearing them.” Erin replied.

“Can you wear nothing but the corset and knickers?”

Erin grinned. She extracted herself from Dave’s arms. Walking down the hall toward her bedroom, Erin began pulling the pins out of her hair one by one until it was falling down her neck. Looking back, she saw him grinning as well. Dave took off his suit jacket, threw it over his shoulder, and followed her.

***


End file.
